Entries Tagged 'Linux' ↓

My jaw hit the floor today when I read this: OpenOffice gets pre-load, update notification . I’m all for applications running/loading faster, but not pre-loading apps is one of the main things I like about about non-Windows operating systems. It looks like the bloating of Linux continues, which is a shame. (Yes, there are distro’s that are fighting this, but they don’t get enough press like the big guys do.)

Repeat after me: small, light, tight.

I saw this article this morning:Linux kernel ‘getting buggier,’ leader says | CNET News.com, and I have to say that I’m not surprised.

Its not that Linux is buggy by default, rather that it has grown so much that this was bound to happen. I think that anytime you have a project with multiple developers over a long period of time, and a growing user base you are just bound to get (or find) more bugs.

The statement by Andrew Morton about the difficulty of getting coders to look at old bugs is very true. I experienced that myself here recently. Its hard to go back and re-visit something that once was working (or so you thought) but is now broken in some weird convoluted way.

I wonder if anyone is running any type of code analysis tools over the kernel codebase. I’m sure someone is, its just too high profile of a project for someone to not do that. I imagine that report must be a mile and a half long…

The Drunken Blog is always a good place to catch up on news. ther other day while reading the site I saw this article: The dirge of NeoOffice.

I’ve been trying to use OpenOffice on my Mac for the last few weeks (specifically to do spreadsheet work) and it has been just downright painful. Apparently my transition to the “Mac Side” is complete, the thought of cranking up the X11 package makes my skin crawl.

I was thinking that NeoOffice might be a solution to my Office needs and allow me to have the pride of using OpenOffice (which I do like on Linux and Windows). But after reading this article, it sounds like I might be better off getting the MS Office package for the Mac.

Well its been about two months since I got the Mac Mini and I have to say that I’m suprisingly happy with it.
From everything I had read and heard about the hardware I thought I would like it, but I was unsure about the software, specifically OS X. I ws expecting it to be a lot like Linux, but that really is not the case. If anything, OS X is what Linus should aspire to be. Unified in its look and feel (even though some progams like iTunes still bug me), consistent in its implementation, this is what Linux and its apps should be like.
And as a developer I’m very pleased with the quantity and quality of the development tools that come with the Mac. I was expecting to have to go invest in new tools, but for the most part everything you could want is already there in XCode. Good stuff. I think I’m going to be able to write up some great software using these tools. (Ok, I’ve alreay started writing software using these tools, lets hope it turns out great!)
Perhaps the biggest sign that I really like the Mac platform is the fact I’ve been trying to convince people to get a Mac Mini. When did I become the Mac guy? I guess the quality of this platform speaks for itself.
Tags: OS X, Reviews, Linux

Ok, I finally break down and try to join the Apple tribe and what do they do? Tear down the tent and leave town!. It figures as much though, I seem to have that kind of luck.
But it doesn’t mean my mac mini will stop working tomorrow. In fact for a while (like a year or two) there probably will be no difference in what I’m doing. So instead of bellyaching like everyone else about how the PowerPC Mac is fading into the sunset, I’ve decided to post my complaints about a lot of different companies/technologies.
-x86
Nice and accessible (cheap price, tons of documentation), but can we please move the architecture forward and leave behind 16-bit mode? I know legacy is important, but at some point we all have to leave the nest. (And thank you to AMD for making those first few steps.)
-Sun, Solaris, sparc
For a long time I thought Sun was the be all end all when it came to unix. Then I started to realize that they (the company, the os, the chip) were not moving forward fast enough. Which is too bad, I like a lot of their products. Even if they are expensive to the point that Scrooge McDuck couldn’t afford them.
-Microsoft
*sigh* So much potential, so little progress. Yes, Win95 was a step in the right direction, and I’m so glad that Win2000 was based on NT4 rather than Win98. But why did they let things like IE, Office bloat, and security holes get so out of control? I think they could have made a ton of money by Doing The Right Thing(tm). Look at Google. They are what Microsoft was and could have been.
-Motorola and IBM
Thank you for the PowerPC architecture. But why didn’t it take over the PC market? Or maybe I’m asking this question too soon. IBM seems to have something up their sleeves.
-Linux
Why? Why, why, why, why? So close to breaking through to the mainstream, yet you don’t. Why must you tease us? A clean, usable desktop, working sound, that’s all we ask for. Apple and Microsoft can do that, it can’t be that hard can it? Perhaps having no central authority tying all of these together is a bad thing.
-Apple
Thanks for switching hardware on me a month after I buy into the hype. I appreciate that. Way to keep me on my toes. But seriously, why? Sales are increasing, popularity is rising, you’re set to take on the world. Now pull out the rug? Or are Mr. Cringely’s predictions about Apple going to come true? I don’t know, all I know is if I have to leave the mini within a year (because of a forced software upgrade) I’ll be pissed.